For those of us that are ....well, past our best years,I don't believe we will see another run such as we have witnessed with Armstrong.
Ah well...life goes on.
What I thought was interesting was the strategy between Lance and Johan to win the Tour.... it was 2 good time trails and one attack..... that’s what they put winning down to.... when you think about it its a very simple strategy and it worked !
mitosis said:
I'm starting to get the idea that Armstrong is a pretty good athlete. Its hard to fault his performance this year.
There seems to be quite a group of contenders for next years T de F.
What I thought was interesting was the strategy between Lance and Johan to win the Tour.... it was 2 good time trails and one attack..... that’s what they put winning down to.... when you think about it its a very simple strategy and it worked !
Good point -- although I think there's something to be said for the art of riding defensively as well. As you just pointed out, Armstrong really only went "on the offensive" a few times during the Tour, but on the other hand, he made a caclulation as to who his chief rivals would be (Jan and Ivan) and never allowed either one of them to get in front of him by more than a few bike-lengths. In fact, I think it's a testament to Lance/Bruyneel's talent as strategists that neither Ullrich or Basso ever gained so much as a single second on Armstrong on the finish of any stage.
Vino, of course, is the other side of the coin -- a "go for broke", emotional, risk-taking rider, I like him for the excitement he brings to the Tour, but I wonder what he might be able to accomplish as a more "boring" rider with a well-constructed team supporting him. Bruyneel says Vino doesn't have what it takes to win a TdF -- I would have to disagree. Vino has proven to be a powerful climber, a serviceable time-trialist, and he can even power to the front of a stage and hold off the sprinters on occasion. With the proper support and with perhaps a more judicious use of his physical reserves, he'd be very, very tough to beat.